Horn support for can bodymaker



April 10, 1956 w. P. WINTERS 2,741,204

HORN SUPPORT FOR CAN BODYMAKER FiledJuly 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.!

INV

WILLIAM P.WINTERS BY ,ZM Cefi/m ea/24.5. fif nvn- ATTORNEYS April 10, 1956 w, WINTERS 2,741,204

HORN SUPPORT FOR CAN BODYMAKER Filed July 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiG.2

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM P. WINTERS ATTORNEYS April 10, 1956 w. P. WINTERS 2,741,204

HORN SUPPORT FOR CAN BODYMAKER Filed July 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.4

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM P. WINTERS BY 16M wfik l ATTORNEYS April 10, 1956 w. P. WINTERS 2,741,204

HORN SUPPORT FOR CAN BODYMAKER Filed July 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM P. WINTERS ATTORNEYS United States Patent HORN SUPPORT 'FOR/CANBUDYMKKER WiIliam P. winters, Cincinnati, flhim assignor to American .Can Company, New EYorlg- N.'2Y.,'acorporation of New Jersey Application July 30,I954,Serial'No."46813 6 Claims. (Cl. 113-42 'Thejpresent invention relates to 'machinesfor making canor'container.bo'dies'having side seams which require bumping on a born or mandrel and'hasparticular're'ference to'an improved support for'firmiyhdlding the born or mandrelduring the seam'bumping operation.

"An object of the instant invention is the provisionlin a'can bodymaker of an improved'horn support designed to'eliminate'heavy moving parts and re'duce'the stroke of eccentric and reciprocating movements to increase the efficiency ofthe machine while reducing construction and maintenance costs.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention'will be apparent as'it is" better understood'fromdhe following description, which, taken in connection'with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembo'diment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a front view of'a' can bodymakerembodyin'g the instant invention, with parts broken "away' arid; parts shown in section;

Fig. 2' is a sectional View of thebumpingstation of'a can bodymaker; the view being takensubstantiailyialong the line 22 in Fig. 1, with' parts broken away;

"Fig.3 is 'a'transverse sectional viewofthebumping station as taken substantially along the broken 'line 3"'3 in'Fig; l, 'with'parts broken away;

Fign4 is a'sectional view taken'substantially'aiong the line '44 in Fig; 3, with parts broken away;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to'Fig. 2

and= showing the upper portion of the bumping station with-the moving parts in a'diiferent position; and

Fig.6 is an'enlarged sectional view as takensubstantiailyaltmgdhebroken line-6 6 in Fig. 4; withpatts broken-away.

"Asa preferred or exemplary embodiment of'the' instant invention thedrawings illustrateprincipalparts'of th'e side-seam bumping station of a sheet metalcanbodymaker-of the character disclosed inUnited'States Patent 1;625, 091:, issued April -'l-9, 1927, to John F. Peters "on Can Body Making Machine.

Insuch a can body making machine or bodymaker, fiat sheet metal blanks-are formed into cylindrieal'can body shape on a longitudinally disposed horn or "mandrel 11 (Figs. 1, 2, 3,4 and 6) and are advanced along the horn in-a step-by-step manner through several working stations Where the partially formed bodies-are formed with hooked At the=bumping station A, however, the horn 11* is not fixedlys'upportedzbut overhangs a'verticall y reciprocabl hammer14- which is vertically and longitudinally aligned with the interengaged hook edges lof.a partially formed can body arrest on the born :11. .The hammer 14 is supported in a vertical slide15whichoperates in slideways 16 secured in .the machine .fframe :12. The slide 16 is reciprocated vertically towardand away from the'horn 11 in time with theadvancementof the partially formed can bodies alonglthe. horn,-by-.a.crank .17 mounted on a crank-shaft 18 journaled in bearings.19'.formed in the machine frame 12. The crank shaft 13 is actuated in any suitablemanneras by a pulley 21 carried on one end of the shaft.

Since the hammer14, in bumping or compressing the hook edges .of a canbody to form the sideseam C,,.Produces considerable: strain on the overhanging iportion of the .horn 11, the horn at this station'is supported or backed up from above,-i. e. opposite the hammer 14,t,o absorb the bumping impact. This support is yieldably held against the born 11 to .permit advancement of ca bumped can body out of thetbumping station and to allow for the entrance of .a succeeding body for a bumping operation. For this purpose a longitudinally disposed horn support member or clamp shoe 23' is located at the bumpingstation A adjacent thetop of the born 11 where it is directly opposite the bumping hammer 14 and where it engages againsta can body B at the bumping station. In some -machines the clamp member 23 may be used alone without the. hammer 14 to clamp and hold the' can body'inplace on the horn at a station other than the bumping station.

,T-herhorn support. member 23 is'formecl with-a vertically disposed, preferably rectangular shaped .stem 'or shank'24.(Figs.-4 and 6) which isslideably disposed in a vertical slideway 25formed in a'bracket 26 secured to alweb section '27 of the frame '12. Thesupport member 23-is maintained normally under light pressure exerted by'a pair of light-springs 2? (Fig. 6) interposed between the top of the member and the bottom ofthe bracket 26 to yieldably hold the member against the horn ll. :A screwSl-extending transversely through the bracket 26 arid through a clearance slot'32 in the shank 24 .holds the shank in place in the bracket.

With the'support member 23 lightly pressed against the horn-11, can-bodies B may be readily pushed :into place-between the horn support member and the horn 11 at the bumping station for the seam bumping operation.

During the bumping operation, the'supportmember-23- is pressed hard against the body interposed between. it and the born to fully support or back up the horn against theirnpact of the bumping hammer 1'4. This additional segment-36 having an eccentric convex cam'face'37'. The cam face 37 engages against a similar eccentricconcave.

cam face 33 formed in the top end ofthesup'p'ort member shank24.

The rocker cam 35 is oscillated in time with'the operation of the hammer 14 toxslide its eccentric cam face 37 into engagement'with the eccentric cam'face 38 'of the shank '24 to bear'hard 1 against the shank and thus exert an endwise pressure thereagainst to force the supportmember 23 down tightly against the horn 11,'-as shown in full lines in Fig. 6, to back up the horn during impact of the hammer. Afterthe.bumping'impact, the rocker cam 35 is oscillated inan'opposite direction to swing the eccentric cam face 37 away from the eccentric cam face 33, as shown in dot and'dash lines inFig. '6,

to relieve the endwiselpressure on the shank 24 and.th'e

support member 23 to return the member to its yieldable condition as outlined above.

'0scillation of therocker cam 35 is effectedthrough' bracket 26. The shaft 41 is rocked through a pressure exerting stroke (counterclockwise as viewed in'Fig. 6) and then through a return or pressure relieving stroke (clockwise as viewed in Fig. 6) by a pair of oppositely disposed integral rocker arms 44 carried on one end of the rocker shaft 41. The rocker arms 44 carry cam rollers 45, 46 (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and which operate simultaneously and continuously against a segmental edge cam 48 formed on one end of a lever 49. The opposite end of the lever 49 is mounted on a pivot pin 51 secured in a boss 52 which extends out from one of the shaft bearings 42.

The lever 49 is-rocked on its pivot pin 51 through an upright eccentric rod 54, the upper end or" which is adjustably secured by adjusting nuts 55 (Fig. 4) in a pivot block 5d pivotally carried in the outer end 'of a lever extension 57 of the lever 49. The lower end of the eccentric rod 54 is attached to an eccentric ring of an eccentric 59 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted on and rotating with the crank shaft 18 to provide timed relation of the operation of the horn support member 23 with the operation of the hammer 14.

The cam face of the segment cam 48 upon which the cam rollers 45, 4b operate is formed with a pair of cam nodes or high spots 61, 62 and a pair of adjacently disposed intervening cam depressions or low spots 63, 64. These nodes and depressions are spaced so that when one of thecam rollers 45, 46 is on a node, the other is in a depression and vice versa, as best shown in Fig. 5.

When the hammer 14 moves upwardly toward the horn 11 for a bumping operation, the eccentric 59 draws down on the eccentric rod 54 and thus rocks the lever 49 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5. This shifts the segment cam 48 in a counterclockwise direction and causes the upper cam roller 46 to ride up onto the upper node 62 of the cam and causes the lower roller 45 to enter the depression 63 of the cam. This shifting of the cam rollers 45, 46 rocks the rocker shaft 41 (Fig. 6) in a counterclockwise direction as mentioned above and hence causes the edge cam 36 to exert a downward endwise pressure on the shank 24 and horn support member 23 to back up the horn 11 during impact of the hammer 14 as hereinbefore explained.

In a like manner, the return or downward movement of the hammer 14 after completing a seam bumping'cperation, effects, through the eccentric 59, eccentric rod 54, and lever arm 49, a clockwise swinging of the segment cam 48. This causes the lower cam roller 45 to ride up on the lower cam node 61 and simultaneously causes the upper roller 46 to ride into the upper depres sion 64. The rocker shaft 41 is thus rocked, by the shifting of the cam rollers 45, 46 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Pig. 6 to rotate the edge cam 36 in this same direction and thereby relieve the backing-up pressure on the shank 24 and horn support member 23 as hereinb'efore explained.

, Hence through operation of the eccentric 59 in time with the movement of the hammer 14, the segment cam.

48 fully controls the simultaneous action of the two cam rollers 45, 46 and thus controls the application of pressure to the horn support member 23 so that the horn is fully supported during the impact resulting from the can body side seams bumping operation and at the proper time relieves the pressure on the horn to permit passage of the can bodies into and out of the bumping station. With such a construction of the segment cam 48 and rocker rollers 45, 46 for actuating the horn support member 23, the stroke of the eccentric 59 and the strain on the other operating parts can be reduced to a minimum to greatly increase the efiiciency and decrease the maintc nancecosts of the entire unit.

In order to provide for proper timing or setting of the segment cam 43 through adjustment of the lever 49 relative to the eccentric rod 54, a visible indicator is included in the device. This indicator comprises a pointer 71 (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5) which is secured to the lever 49 adjacent its pivot pin 51 and which swings with the lever adjacent a stationary indicator dial 72 fixed to the adjacent boss 52. The dial carries visible indexing characters 73 of any desired order to indicate the position of the segment cam 36 which is hidden in the bracket 26 and thereby facilitates proper setting of the cam.

it is thuoght that the invention and many of its attend ant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,-construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. in a high speed can body making machine having a can body supporting horn and a horn support member mounted adjacent said horn for movement toward said horn, the improvement which comprises the combination of a rotary cam mounted adjacent said horn support member and engageable thereagainst. for pressing said member toward said horn, a pair of rocker arms operatively connected with said rotary'cam and disposed radially in divergent directions from the axis of said cam, an actuating cam mounted for rotary oscillating movement adjacent said rocker arms and having a cam face in constant engagement with both of said rocker arms for oscillating said arms in unison, and means for oscillating said actuating cam to thereby impart a rotary oscillating movement to said rotary cam to move said rotary cam gently into and out of pressing engagement against said horn sup port member.

nodes and at least one intervening depression.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein each of said rocker arms is provided with a cam roller disposed in engagement with said cam face of said actuating cam.

4. In a high speed can body making machine having a can body supporting horn and a both support member mounted adjacent said horn for movement toward said horn, the improvement which comprises the combination of an oscillatable edge cam mounted adjacent said horn support member for rotary movement and having a curved cam face engageable against said horn support member for exerting an endwise pressure thereagainst to force said member toward said horn, a shaft for mounting said oscillatable edge cam, a pair of rocker arms mounted on said shaft and extending radially therefrom in divergent directions, an actuating cam mounted for rotary oscillating movement adjacent said rocker arms and having a cam face which is in constant engagement with both of said rocker arms for oscillating said rocker arms in unison, and means for oscillating said actuating cam to thereby oscillate said shaft and rotate said curved oscillatable edge cam face gently into and out of pressing engagement with said horn support member.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 in which said rotatable edge cam is provided with an eccentric convex cam face which is engageable against an eccentric concave cam face formed in said horn sup-port member to exert an endwise pressure thereagainst to fore said horn support member toward said horn.

6. In a high speed can body making machine having a can body supporting horn, the combination of an elongated clamp member extending along said horn for clamping engagement thereagainst at a working station, said clamp member having a shank slideably mounted adjacent said horn, said shank terminating at its outer end in an eccentric actuating face, an oscill-atable edge cam having an eccentric face disposed adjacent and engageable with the actuating face of said shank for exerting.

an endwise pressure against said shank to clamp said clamp member against said horn, a pair of rocker arms connected with said edge cam' and disposed radially in divergentdirections from the axis of said edge cam, a lever pivotaiiy mounted at one end and having a free end disposed adjacent said rocker arms, an actuating cam on the free end of said lever and having a cam face in constant engagement with both of said rocker arms for rocking said arms, and means for oscillating said actuating cam to rock said arms and thereby move said clamp member toward said horn to clamp 21 can body therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Peters Apr. 19, 1927 Troyer Mar. 11, 1930 Peters July 8, 1930 Seaholm Mar. 31, 1931 Hothersali July 21, 1936 Laxo Oct. 27, 1953 

